Faculty strategies for encouraging their students to fill out the SRTEs

Although SRTE response rates have gone down for many faculty members since
the shift to online ratings, some faculty are still able to achieve
impressive response rates. To get at some of their secrets, we asked
faculty with a 70% or greater response rate and at least 30 students in
their classes to share advice on getting students to fill out the SRTEs.
Below are some of the suggestions that emerged. We'll be adding more tips
in the coming months, so check back often.

“I teach a first-year seminar. Beginning with the freshmen, we
work hard to help the students see the importance and their
responsibility in being proactive in their education by providing
constructive feedback. I have argued with the freshmen that they have
an ethical responsibility to provide feedback and impress upon them
the importance of the constructive feedback to the instructor going
forward with future offerings of the course. With all my students, I
reiterate the arguments above and also provide examples of how my
courses (or other courses) have changed due in part to the
constructive feedback given by students. I personally have changed
how information is delivered and how assignments are structured in
several of my courses based in part on student feedback.”

—R. Allen Kimel, Materials Science and Engineering

“I remind students that most of the good ideas for course
improvements have come from those in the past who took the time to
pass along their constructive feedback. I also describe one or two
examples to students of how feedback from past semesters helped to
improve the current course, showing how they can have a positive
impact.”

—Instructor, Information Sciences and Technology

“I talk about teaching methodologies that I have incorporated
based on previous feedback (obtained from SRTEs) from prior classes,
such as exam reviews both pre- and post-, as an example. I then on
the first day of class begin to mention SRTEs and how I value that
process and how feedback from students has impacted the course in
helping the students achieve the objectives of the course.”

—Lisa Kitko, Nursing

Guide students about how to write helpful feedback

“I try to let my students know that I want their feedback very
badly with respect to how I can improve my course. I tell them that
though I love to hear that they like things in my course, I am equally
interested (if not more so) in what they’d like to see me change. I
tell them that writing things like ‘Dr. Bernstein sucks,’
doesn’t help me as much as ‘Dr. Bernstein sucks because he talks
too fast and his slides are not easy to follow.’”

—Michael Bernstein, Psychology

Build rapport with students throughout the semester

Professor Karen Barr values students’ input on the subject matter of
the course. At SRTE time, she reminds students that she’s been willing
to help in many ways and that it would now be helpful if they could
reciprocate by filling out the SRTEs. “SRTEs are important – that’s how
I change my class,” she says, noting that even though she has been
teaching for many years, there are always ways to improve.

—Karen Barr, Business Administration (from interview)

“Throughout the semester I try to create a very collaborative
learning environment in class. We engage in a lot of experiential
learning in which I get to know the students in ways that traditional
lecturing does not allow. I see them – and they see me – engaging in role
plays, organizational simulations, etc. I think this develops a
climate of trust which they appreciate and likely feel more compelled
to share their views on at the end of the semester.”

—Glen Kreiner, Management and Organization

“I average over 80 percent daily attendance in my classes, and Penn
State Beaver is basically a commuter school. Attendance is 10 percent of
their grade and students sign in every day.

Students do not use e-mail that often. They would rather communicate with
me via text message. Maybe some type of blanket text message could be
sent to students.

I start reminding students the day I receive the e-mail concerning SRTEs
and mention it at every class session after. Students are busy and need
constant reminders.

I tell students that I do accept constructive criticism and have made
adjustments to the syllabus. Not all suggestions are incorporated.

I speak their language sometimes and talk about life and how important it
is to be able to accept criticism or praise, whatever it may be. We are
criticizing or praising them all semester and they only get one SRTE
per semester.”

—Thomas Zumpella, Integrative Arts

“Rapport built with students makes them want to give feedback.
Students enjoying the course makes them want to give feedback.”

—Dave Brown, Economics

“So how do I build rapport with my students? I tell them lots
of stories (only true ones) from my own life or from clients/family
that have been part of my life. These stories help to create a
connection, so that they see that I am human as well. They also get
to see how the concept fits a real-life situation and they tend to
remember it better. I also get to class early so I can just talk with
them informally and get to know them as a person. I have a
reputation for ‘being tough’ because I do have high
expectations for class … attendance, participation, critical
thinking, and great writing skills. I am fair…. I am strict about
classroom behavior and correct inappropriate behavior when it happens.
Sometimes I have to apologize when the message comes across too
strongly or sharply. This also builds rapport.”

—Anne Hester, Psychology

“I try to build a relationship with my students from Day 1
centered on communication (I am here for you!), work-ethic (all of us
will work hard, and that includes me), and respect (everyone is equal
and we’ll continuously strive to work together). Indeed, I keep
telling my students how much I am here to nurture their success as
‘budding biologists.’ … Please know that I
constantly challenge my students throughout the semester, and I work
to celebrate their success (not failures). When it comes time for
SRTEs, it’s a natural process. It’s simply part of the course. They
basically see it as an assessment requirement (which I explain SRTEs
as ‘assessment tools’ for me and Penn State). They are
scholars (another thing I tell them constantly) and understand the
need for SRTEs.”

—Jacqueline McLaughlin, Biology

Create a culture of feedback in the course (e.g., collect other types of feedback during the semester)

Professor Johanna Rossi Wagner’s lecture class of about 50 students is
a collaborative effort. Throughout the semester, she asks students to
talk about what is or is not working. As an example, she required blog
assignments and got feedback that the students hated these, so she
tweaked the assignment. She sets a tone of openness to feedback – she
tries to convey that she really wants to know what is or is not
working in the class.

—Johanna Rossi Wagner, Italian (from interview)

In his courses, Professor Jake Graham is always thinking about
“student participation,” “student involvement,”
and “student voice.” He tells his students that his is but
one view, they have other views, and that he learns from hearing
students’ views. But what he sees as most important is to follow
up on this philosophy by giving students opportunities to provide input,
and for faculty to respond to that input. How faculty respond to the
input is critical. To summarize his approach, 1) he promotes open dialogue
as an important part of the learning process, 2) he regularly provides
opportunities for open dialogue, about the course and about the content
of the course, and 3) he responds to the open dialogue. It is the
response to the feedback that is, for him, the critical point. He shows
that he is listening and that he respects the input by either making
changes, or by explaining why he does something in a particular way.

—Jake Graham, Information Sciences and Technology (from interview)

“We have many interactive class activities and discussions,
encouraging rapport. I believe these are critical in encouraging
open communication with my students. Early in the semester, my
students are generally asked about their opinion of the textbook.
I generally take a few moments prior to the book order due dates
for the upcoming semester to ask about the usage, value, price,
and format. Toward the end of the semester, I usually ask about
which assignments were preferred or valued and if the course plans
should be adapted, in their opinion. Of course, there will always
be a few students who dislike everything; however, I genuinely
try to base my course-planning decisions on input provided by the
majority of reliable, regularly attending students. I usually
inform students at the beginning of each semester if I have
recently adapted plans based on student input.”

—Instructor, Psychology

“Almost all of my courses are rich in assignments, and students
are getting very detailed feedback not only from me, but in some
cases from their peers (all online). However, I think the integration
of my research into my teaching and my emphasis on the importance
of collected data throughout the semester might be the biggest
help.”

—Hakan Can, Administration of Justice

“I make it a point to provide my students with timely feedback,
and they are usually gracious enough to do the same for me when I ask.”

—Robert Belsterling, Economics and Accounting

“[The] secret to getting responsiveness at the end of
the semester is to actively develop a climate of responsiveness from
the very beginning of and all the way through the entire semester,
so that by its end mutual evaluation is part and parcel of the process.”

—Claudia Brown, Human Development and Family Studies

Reserve a room or a block of time when students can complete the SRTE

“I managed to give students 15 minutes in class at the beginning
of the class when they had access to computers to complete their
SRTEs during the period of SRTEs. After telling students that their
feedback would help me improve my teaching effectiveness in the future
and would positively impact my teaching skill and eventually benefit
our students, I left the classroom for 15 minutes. When I returned
to the class and asked how many students had completed their SRTEs,
the vast majority of the students raised their hands.”

—Xinli Wu, Engineering Design

“At Penn State York, a thirty-minute block of time is allocated
to filling out SRTEs. Every instructor reserves a room and a block of
time. Some instructors take their students to the reserved room and
stand outside where the students cannot see them. The objective is to
make sure that all students are working on their SRTEs. I didn’t do
that; instead I reserved rooms and time, and asked my students to do
the needful.”

—Instructor, Chemistry

“I reserve a computer lab at the beginning or end of a
lecture/lab session during the last week or two of the semester, and
ask the students to complete their SRTEs for the course during that
time slot. At Beaver campus, we have computer labs near the biology
lab and lecture rooms, so if I plan ahead, it’s relatively easy to
reserve a computer lab nearby – the key is to make it as easy as
possible for the students to get there.”

—Cassandra Miller-Butterworth, Biology

Provide reminders when the SRTEs are active

“I basically asked students to fill out the online SRTEs because
they were important indicators of how the course went that semester.
My gut reaction is that any sort of reminder, however simple, if it
is given repeatedly, will help students remember to do the SRTEs and
thus improve the overall response rate for a course.”

—Thomas McGuire, Biology

“On the last day of class I explained to my 58 theory and
clinical students in Nursing 310, Nursing Care of the Older Adult,
that their feedback on the SRTEs and SRCTEs (clinical evaluation) is
very important to me and to the School of Nursing administrators. I
sent the students seven emails containing course announcements
between 11/28 and 12/8 which included reminders about completing the
SRTEs and SRCTEs. In the first email I explained to the students
that I had 100 percent completion in the Spring of 2011 and that
my goal was 100 percent completion for the Fall of 2011. Because my
students are in six clinical sections I suggested that we have a
race to see which clinical section could have a 100 percent completion
first. In each email I reported on what the percentages of completion
were for each clinical section and thanked the students for taking
the time to complete their SRTEs. On December 9th I sent an email
thanking them for completing the SRTEs and reporting that the
completion rate was 91 percent. The race was fun and the emails took
a fraction of time to compose.”

—Mary Ellen Yonushonis, Nursing

“During the last two weeks of class, in every update email I
sent to the class I urged students to complete their SRTEs. I made
announcements to this effect in class, too. As time passed, I
reported the statistics to the class and told them my goal was
100%.”

—Instructor, Information Sciences and Technology

Make clear that you value student feedback

In order to encourage the students to complete the SRTEs, I offer the option
of an extra-credit assignment IF the class meets a target completion rate for
the course. For example, I will set a target completion rate of 85%. At the
start of each class, I project the home page that shows the completion rate.
I then remind the students of the possibility of the assignment. When the
students meet the completion rate (or even if they don't), I post an extra credit
quiz that helps them prepare for the final exam. The quiz is multiple choice and
serves as a general review for the final. Using this strategy, I have achieved
high completion rates with thoughtful feedback.

—Instructor, Biology

During the time when SRTEs are available to students, Professor Kitty
Mussett sometimes prints out her SRTE results from the previous
semester and hands these out in class. She and the students take 7-10
minutes to discuss the importance of the SRTEs and what she does with
the results. She and the students look at low numbers and discuss
whether they think she's improved. They also look at high numbers and
discuss whether they think she has done those things well in the
current semester. At the end of the discussion, she collects the
forms back from the students.

—Kitty Mussett, Spanish (from interview)

“I must say I do nothing special except to inform my students
that it is important they fill the SRTEs out not just for me, but for
all their other instructors. I note that this is an important feedback
source for faculty so that they can fine tune their teaching to
maximize the imparting of knowledge. I also note that this will not
only benefit them during their time at PSU but will also help future
generations of students who attend PSU. I do say it with some humor.”

—Rajen Mookerjee, Economics

“When it comes to the SRTEs themselves, I try to impress upon
the students that they are an extremely valuable feedback tool that
helps me understand how well I am doing as an instructor. I tell the
students … the most important function of the SRTEs to me is
the opportunity they give current students to help future students.”

—Michael Gallis, Physics

Make sure students are aware of the SRTEs

“Big ‘secret,’ I believe, is that our online class
really does require the students to engage, frequently, and by getting
them to log in, they see the SRTEs.”

—Richard Alley, Geosciences

Explain the SRTE process to students

In the fall, when there are a lot of first-time college students,
Professor Dianne Creagh explains what the SRTEs are. She also shows
the students her screen for the Rate Teaching Tool to reassure them that she can’t see
who responded and that she can’t link responses to particular
students. She also gives examples of how qualitative feedback
comments have helped her to improve the course over time.

—Dianne Creagh, History (from interview)

Incentivize final exam prep

In order to encourage the students to complete the SRTEs, I offer the option
of an extra-credit assignment IF the class meets a target completion
rate for the course. For example, I will set a target completion rate of 85%. At the start
of each class, I project the home page of Canvas that shows the completion rate. I then
remind the students of the possibility of the assignment. When the students meet the
completion rate (or even if they don't), I post an extra credit quiz that helps them
prepare for the final exam. The quiz is multiple choice and serves as a general review
for the final. Using this strategy, I have achieved high completion rates with thoughtful feedback.